Rocks to Soil Level: 3rd Grade Time Frame: Approximately 1 Quarter  Description:  Students will observe elementary processes of the rock cycle---erosion, transport, and deposit.

Overview Activity List Learning Objectives Standards Resources

Learning Objectives

Students will know and observe:

• Rocks have different physical properties.
• Rocks are useful to human beings in many ways.
• Many rocks are composed of smaller parts called minerals.
• Rocks have some characteristics that can’t be seen, but can be “tested” for.
• Earth materials change over time, usually due to slow changes.
• Changes in rocks is called weathering, and it can be caused by wind, water, or anything that causes small pieces of rock to break off from larger rocks.
• Soils have varying properties, some of which can be readily observed.
• Soils have many different functions and uses.
• Soils are made up of smaller parts, including both minerals (from weathered rocks), and plant and animal remains.
• Soils also contain air and water.
• Water, wind, and ice shape and reshape the earth’s land surface by eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas.
• One variable property of soil is “water-holding capacity,” a property that is important for
  plant growth and some other functions of soil.

Students will practice:

• Formulating questions on a specific science topic and choosing the steps needed to answer the questions.
• Collecting data for investigations using scientific process skills including observing,
  estimating, and measuring.
• Constructing charts and visualizations to display data.
• Using data to produce reasonable explanations.
• Reporting and displaying the results of individual and group investigations.

Standards

Illinois State Standards: Late Elementary- As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:

12E. Know and apply concepts that describe the features and processes of the earth and its resources:
Identify and explain natural cycles of the Earth’s land, water, and atmospheric systems (e.g., rock cycle).

• Describe and explain short-term and long-term interactions of the Earth’s components (e.g., erosion).

11A. Know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry:

• Describe an observed event.
• Develop questions on scientific topics.
• Collect data for investigations using measuring instruments and technologies.
• Record and store data using available technologies.
• Arrange the data into logical patterns and describe the patterns.
• Compare observations of individual and group results.

National Science Education Standards- As a result of activities in grades K-4, students should develop an understanding of the following fundamental concepts and principles:

• Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. The varied materials have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we use as food. Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use.
• Soils have properties of color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of many kinds of plants, including those in our food supply.
• Fossils supply evidence about the plants and animals that lived long ago and the nature of the environment at that time.
• The surface of the earth changes. Some changes are slow due to slow processes, such as erosion and weathering.

Benchmarks for Science Literacy- By the end of 5th grade, students should know:

• Waves, wind, and ice shape and reshape the earth’s land surface by eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas, sometimes in seasonal layers.
• Rock is composed of different combinations of minerals. Smaller rocks come from the breakage and weathering of bedrock and larger rocks. Soil is made partly from weathered rock, partly from plant remains---and also contains many living organisms.

Resources

Champaign Community Unit School District #4 * Mellon Administrative Center
703 South New Street * Champaign, IL 61820 * 217.351.3800